Kidnapping
by 13litz13last
Summary: Sasuke is kidnapped, but for what reason? Naruto is the only one who saw. Now, he has to go save him. But he's only an Academy student! Will Naruto be able to save the stuck-up brat?
1. Taken

Naruto stared off at the sunset. It was always the same, just after the trees. The leaves would shed the beams of light in such fascinating ways that it always astounded Naruto.

He pumped his feet weakly, the swing beneath him feebly lurching forward and back, forward and back. His feet scraped the ground and dirt got into his sandals. Lovely.

Well, it was almost time to go home. Not that anyone would be waiting for him. But he did have school tomorrow, and for once he didn't feel like wasting the night away with video games. He just wanted to free himself of his meaningless life in the escape of dreams.

Without a word, he pulled himself up heavily from his seat and trudged depressedly out of the playground, and started down the path that wound around the pond and toward his apartment.

The sun had almost disappeared, but he didn't lift his head to watch it. He just stared at the ground, feet dragging against the dirt, hurting his toes. But he didn't care.

"Who's there?" a voice called.

Thinking the voice was directed toward him, Naruto turned his head toward the dock, where the voice had originated. He opened his mouth to say something when he noticed several shadowy figures exiting the foliage across the pond.

They were walking on water! They must have been ninja.

Naruto quickly dropped to the ground, having enough sense to hide himself. Those ninja did not seem friendly, seeing as they were dressed all in black even though the sun was still shining slightly behind the curtain of trees.

Sasuke! He realized the raven-haired boy had been the one to ask the question, sitting at the end of the dock. Now he was standing, in a defensive stance.

"Come here, kid," said the leader, a tall man standing in front of his two cronies.

"No thanks," answered Sasuke darkly, and he didn't point out that he couldn't walk on water.

The ripples the men made on the water softly lapped the dock, and the water nearly blinded Sasuke with the reflection of the sun. Still, he could see the men, and he was starting to feel uneasy.

Naruto shivered, where he was. The ground was cold, but that wasn't what caused it. He was afraid.

"You an Uchiha?" asked the small, lanky man to the right of the leader person.

Naruto could visibly see Sasuke shiver. "What's it to you?"

They shared a glance that seemed to be made up of wicked and triumphant grins.

Suddenly, they ran forward, with such speed Naruto couldn't keep up. Sasuke was quicker, though, and swung backward as they reached the dock's edge. The two in back stayed where they were while the leader leaped upon the dock. He swung at Sasuke, but he dodged and jumped backward twice, and let rip three shuriken.

The man ducked easily and pivoted his leg around to trip Sasuke, and he immediately went down. Sasuke struggled to get to his feet but the man quickly brought his elbow down onto his back, extracting a painful screech from Sasuke.

Naruto quivered with fear where he was, unsure of what to do. Go get help? It could take too long. Jump in? He'd surely be killed, or beaten up, too. What should he do?

Sasuke lay motionless atop the dock, and the two cohorts of the leader, dressed all in black so only mouths and eyes were visible, stepped forward to bound and gag Sasuke.

Then they flew off into the night. All of this happened so fast, Naruto was unsure it even happened.

But he knew he'd heard Sasuke's pitiful cry, and that wasn't the sort of thing Naruto could make up, in all his dreams of defeating the stuck-up Sasuke in front of legions of girls.

But what was he going to _do_?


	2. Raiku

Naruto shivered. The trees swayed. The enemy was getting farther and farther away, and if he waited too long, they'd never be caught.

What should he do?

Suddenly, he shook his head. He shouldn't do anything. What had Sasuke done for him? Nothing. Just scorned him, called him a loser. Made him look so stupid in front of everyone, all the time.

_Besides, _Naruto reasoned sullenly, _I'm probably not even strong enough to do anything..._

His fingernails dug into the ground. A rock cut into his palm, jolting him, awakening him. He had to save Sasuke! He was a fellow student at the Academy! And his number one rival! And who would he show off to when he finally was deemed Hokage? Besides, he would never be Hokage if he couldn't even save his rival from peril.

He jumped from his spot and clumsily dashed down the decline of rolling grass and stumbled up the dock.

At the end, he rethought his plan and decided to run _around _the pond.

Legs pumping hard, breath escaping his mouth in gasps, he ran as fast as his cute little blond-headed body could carry him, winding his way around the small pond. Soon he immersed himself within the jungle of oaks and pines, and was soon fighting for elbow room.

The sun was completely hidden behind the bend of the earth, and Naruto found himself blinded by the low-hanging branches of the tall-growing trees.

He thought he would suffocate in the darkness and thick pine scent. But suddenly something caught his attention.

He'd run hard, and had made good headway into the woods. Apparently, the kidnappers hadn't meant to run all the way to wherever their hideout was. Instead, they were loading the struggling Uchiha into the back of a wagon.

Naruto immediately quieted his breathing and hung out behind a large tree, watching the scene as they got everything together. There was no path, so they probably decided they would make their own way through the wood.

Naruto was unsure again. What had be been thinking? How rash and juvenile. Well, now he was alone in the woods, trying to tail a few criminals and his self-righteous, jerkish rival.

He bit his lip and wondered what to do.

"You got the Uchiha kid?" asked a voice, loudly.

Naruto watched.

A preteen had escaped the back entrance to the wagon-carriage thing. He was looking critically at the wiggling mess that was Sasuke.

"What a disappointment, eh, Toki?" he muttered, scowling, to the leader. Then, he kicked Sasuke roughly in the stomach. Sasuke jerked forward in pain, but whatever cries he'd emitted were drowned out by the gag in his mouth.

Naruto cringed, digging his hands into the bark of the tree he clung to. But wait, why did he care? He shook himself.

The leader, Toki, rummaged through the back of the wagon. "There's not much room," he said questioningly.

"So?" said the boy, shaking his messy brown hair. "Throw Yiko out. No one needs him."

"No," said the man calculatingly. "We don't need you."

The boy seemed unsure now. "But, you promised Aunt Yoshina you'd take care of me."

"Yeah?" Toki said, laughing wickedly. "Well, she's dead, so I got no obligation to keep. Scram."

With that, the man lunged inside and threw out what was no doubt the boy's belongings. With them gone, he stuffed the still writhing Sasuke into the back and shut the door with a loud _thwack._

"But, where will I go?" asked the boy pleadingly. He was thin and weak, as Naruto could tell even through the veil of darkness.

"Go to Konoha," said Toki jokingly. "I'm sure they'd take you in. They're all a bunch of losers."

Without another lame joke, he and his partners in crime hitched up the one horse they had and were gone, a cloud of dust left behind to sting all eyes present.

The unwanted boy clenched his fists and started to get angry. He punched a nearby tree, kicked his stuff and tore at the weeds.

Naruto hesitantly left his hiding spot to walk up to the boy, swallowing nervously.

The boy heard and swiveled around, eyes peircing. "Who're you?" he asked, glaring at Naruto's shivering form.

"I'm Naruto," he said, shuffling his feet. "Th-that kid you took? H-he's my friend--er, classmate."

"So? What do I care?" barked the boy, gathering his stuff up and heavily stringing them to his back.

"Could you tell me where they're going?"

"You wouldn't be able to make it there on your own," said the boy, sighing and sitting down, deciding he didn't really want to go just yet.

"What's your name?"

"Raiku."

"Raiku, could you take me to Sasuke?"

"Why should I?" he asked, making a face at Naruto that he couldn't see because of the intense blackness that surrounded them.

"Because I need to get him back. And from what I hear, you don't have anything better to do."

"Oh, don't I?" inquired Raiku, voice quivering, betraying that he really didn't.

"Besides, you want to get them back for what they did, right?"

He grinned. "Pretty quick, kid," he said. "What's your name?"

"Naruto."

"Naruto, you've just gotten yourself a guide to Ukigakure."

--

_Sorry if the names suck. I thought them up off the top of my head. Raiku is a good name, right? Ukigakure? Whatever, it's not like I care what you think...Ok, yeah, I do. Please review me!!!_


	3. Hackberries

_Reviewers!_

_I love you!_

_But the anonymous guy who reviewed both chapters so far?_

_Listen: I know there are a lot of questions, but what's the point in just telling you why they took Sasuke? Or Raiku's past? _

_All will be revealed in time!_

_So just enjoy the story as it goes, and I know you have questions, but I'm gonna answer them! In the story, though!_

_Patience!_

--

Naruto sat on the ground, irritable and hating his ignorant nature. What had he been thinking? He was alone in the forest with a boy he just met, who insisted on waiting until morning to depart to this Ukigakure place.

"What's Ukigakure?" Naruto had asked.

"You don't know what Ukigakure is?" Raiku had gasped. "Boy, you're sheltered! As I'd expect from from a villager of Konoha!"

After an argument pertaining to the awesomeness of Konoha, Raiku had insisted on staying the night.

"But they could be really far ahead by then!" Naruto had pointed out.

"It will take time, for what they want to do to the Uchiha kid," Raiku had promised.

"And what's that?"

"Oh...er...nothing!"

Naruto felt a tickling sensation on his leg. He lifted up his pant leg to spy an inch-thick black, furry spider creeping its away up his calf.

With a screech even the Gods could hear, Naruto leapt from his spot and shook his leg furiously, and then his whole body just to be sure the hideous creature had been done away with. He wiggled so much it would have put gelatin to shame.

"What the hell are you _doing_?" Raiku snorted.

"Sp-sp-spider!" Naruto stuttered.

"Oh. Yeah. There are a lot, aren't there?"

He was lying down on his sleeping bag, hands folded behind his head as he stared up into the starry sky, nearly completely hidden among th leafy branches of the trees.

"That's the trouble with wherever we go," he whispered, almost to himself. "There's never any stars."

"Yeah, ok, boo-hoo," Naruto muttered. "Where am I supposed to sleep?" He had brought nothing with him.

"Uh, not my problem, is it?" Raiku said, rolling over in his sleeping bag to face the woods and not Naruto. "Just...make a place in the dirt, kid."

"But bugs!" Naruto cried in defiance.

Raiku sat up straight and pointed to his face. "Does this look like a face that cares?"

It was so dark, Naruto couldn't exactly see if the face cared.

"Uh...I'm guessing yes?"

"Smart, kid. Very bright."

Crickets chirped, and nightbirds sang. Naruto shivered. It was cold.

God, he had school tomorrow. What would Iruka-sensei think when he didn't show up? Would anyone even notice his absence? Would anyone even care? They'd probably be really happy he was gone.

Depressed, Naruto sat on the ground once again and shrugged away his worries. Who cared about them, anyway? Not him.

Still, the hurt remained, and the senseless hatred he was so used to nawed at him. Yet, there were no cruel eyes upon him now, though Raiku was anything but friendly.

Speaking (or writing) of Raiku, the kid was trying to sleep. He seldom found comfort in his immediate surroundings and decided an escape into the world of dreams was much more welcoming. He didn't want to have to deal with the abandonment of Toki or the aching hole Aunt Yoshina had left in his heart when she left this world.

He expected this kid knew of no such pain. He was just trying to save his precious little spoiled Uchiha friend. Raiku shook his head roughly. Friends? Who needed 'em.

You could only depend on yourself, in the end.

--

The night dragged on, and in the morning, Naruto didn't feel rested whatsoever. He'd slept against a damp clump of ferns and his hair felt like dirt had seeped into its pores, which it very well could have. And he noticed quite a few irritated lumps on his legs, and he quailed to think what had chomped on him throughout the night.

Though Raiku had had a civil, fairly comfortable place to spend the nighttime hours, he didn't feel very much more rested than Naruto. Bad dreams.

"So, Ukigakure, now?" Naruto asked, slumped on the ground, wishing for a soft bed and a glass of milk and ramen. God, anything to ease the pangs of hunger within his stomach!

"Yup," Raiku said drearily.

"Do you have any food?"

"Yes."

"Can I have some?"

"No."

"Why do you hate me?"

"Because I can."

They picked themselves up from the ground, sun rising steadily in the sky, and followed the tracks Raiku's old gang had left behind.

Naruto's stomach growled noisily, and he knew there was no way he could ignore it any longer. Without a second thought, he pounced onto a bush that was growing alongside the tracks, unharmed by the passage of the wagon hours earlier, and tore the purple-blue berries from its branches.

He had downed at least twenty before he heard Raiku's snickering.

"What?" he grumbled, a berry falling from his half-opened jaw.

"You know what those berries are?"

"No."

"Hackberries," Raiku giggled. "At least, that's what the hikers called them.

"Why?"

"Because they feel like they're hacking at your stomach after you eat them. Then, they hack their way out of your system--every way possible. As soon as possible."

A sickening growl erupted in Naruto's bowels.

"Oh, I get it now," Naruto said, faking a smile. "Excuse me."

He returned the berries to the bush--every way possible.


	4. The Reason

_Ok, next chapter. But listen! I don't think I wrote this chapter very well. It's kinda unrealistic. I guess this sorta thing really wouldn't happen with Naruto and a stranger. No, they don't kiss or anything, you perverts. Just read. _

--

Left. Right. Left. Right.

Naruto sighed and pushed himself forward once again. They had been walking for hours, and still, Raiku continued to say they weren't even close. Lovely.

And he was hungry. He was sore all over, especially his stomach. He'd washed his mouth out, cleaning the remnants of his hackberries incident, but he still felt dirty and grimy. Well, that was nothing new. He barely cared for hygiene anyway. But there was just something that was rattling his bones.

Maybe it was because something was going to happen to Sasuke, but he didn't know what it was.

And Raiku was not about to tell. His mouth was sealed.

"Ugh! Raiku!" Naruto suddenly cried, stamping his feet angrily. "Could you _please _tell me what they want with that idiot Sasuke?"

"Huh? I thought that kid was a genius or something, right?" Raiku inquired, not seeming the least bit interested.

"Pfft, genius, my ass," Naruto muttered, tripping over a large tree root and falling face-first into the hard ground.

He carefully lifted himself off the ground, fuming with rage. This was really bothersome. Shikamaru would have quit hours ago, before it even started. And now he was stuck with this silent companion, on the road to save the guy he despised.

He clenched his fists, standing perfectly still, as Raiku walked past him without a second thought.

_I'll be damned, _Naruto decided, _if I go one more minute not knowing what the Hell they want with Idiot Sasuke!_

"Tell me!" he roared, curiousity overtaking his rationality, as many emotions often did. He jumped onto Raiku's back, and Raiku, who wasn't a ninja, was unprepared for it and fell to the ground heavily.

"No!" he screeched, covering his head as Naruto dealt a blow onto it. It wasn't a real fight; Naruto wasn't aiming to hurt Raiku. More like scare him and hold him down, hurting him until he finally gave in and told him the answer.

Another blow came down, and Raiku, fearing for his life--he'd just met Naruto, and didn't know the extent of his abilities--gave in.

"They want his eyes!" he cried out, pushing Naruto off him hastily. "They want his Sharingan!"

Naruto sat on the ground, stunned. "Huh?" he murmured stupidly.

"His eyes," Raiku panted, slightly winded. "They want his kekkei genkai. His bloodline trait, see. He's one of the few Uchiha left. They want his eyes."

"Why would that take a long time?" Naruto asked.

"Well, he hasn't activated it yet, probably. They have to make him get the full Sharingan before plucking his eyes out."

Naruto shivered. Plucking his eyes out?

Then he grinned, shaking away his fear. He'd get to Sasuke before that, for sure. But before they moved on, he had a question.

"Why did you give in so easily when I jumped you?" Naruto asked, standing up.

"I don't know you well," Raiku said defensively, as if he still feared Naruto. "You could have an amazing ability I don't know of to kill me with."

Naruto giggled. "Are you kidding?" he joked. "I'm just a kid." Then he started to trudge off. "What an idiot," he muttered to himself.

Raiku reddened with rage and embarrassment as he followed behind the blond-headed trickster.

--

_Ok, so, the battle scene was kinda unrealistic, right? And this chapter was kinda short, I think. Sorry. Didn't know what to put, really. Well, see you!_


	5. Yoshiako

Night finally fell, and the carriage was not in sight, and this Ukigakure definitely wasn't, either.

Naruto was beginning to think Raiku had just made it up to put him off track and save the buddies who'd left him behind.

"Is this Ukigakure even _real_?" Naruto cried out, as they set up for their second night. Raiku had been kind enough to let him borrow a blanket, but not kind enough to give him food. He liked to see Naruto suffer.

"Of course it is!" Raiku laughed. "We'll be there by tomorrow, noon."

Naruto pouted and flopped down onto the hard ground, agitated. "Will there be ramen?"

"Ramen galour, probably."

Well, at least there was that. But that was tomorrow, at noon. He'd die if he didn't get _something _into his system. During the hackberries incident, not only had he coughed up the berries, but also all the food he'd eaten probably since lunch the day before.

And Raiku was not going to give him any food, that was for sure. He was still angry that Naruto had "fooled" him earlier, during the fight, though Naruto hadn't really _done _anything purposely to trick him.

So as Raiku ate some dried fruit, Naruto went wandering about in the light of what was left of the setting sun. There wasn't much to eat, and he was now wary of every berry he crossed.

He came to a small river and drank up, which took the edge off his hunger. The river was wide enough to support life, so Naruto decided to see if he could poke around for something. _Maybe I'll find a seahorse! _thought Naruto. _Or an octopus! _(Little Naruto, as with his older self, is not the brightest of fellows.)

Naruto crept up to his waist in the rushing water, which was unexpectedly cold and made him shiver almost uncontrollably. Still, his hunger fought away any thought of abandoning his mission and he continued to wade in, searching the depths with his blue eyes.

All fish he came across ran--er, swam--from him immediately, but there were some clam-type things there, and he collected an armful before racing back to Raiku, to have him check if they were edible.

He arrived back at their small clearing with his ego on the high side. He dumped the clam-things before Raiku, who was shaken by his discovery.

"You...you found these? Nearby?" he asked hesitantly, like he was afraid of the answer.

"Er...yeah," Naruto said, his ego waning. "Is that...bad?"

"Well, it's good and bad," Raiku stated, standing and kicking some dirt into the fire, to lower it and eventually end its life.

Naruto was afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "What's the good part?"

"Well, these clams are not only edible, but the most delicious the world has ever known, really. Depending on personal taste, anyway."

"R-really?" Naruto asked, mouth watering. "Wh-what does it taste like?"

"Well, it feels to the mouth like satin, slippery satin, but it isn't gross. And it tastes sort of like ramen."

Naruto almost fainted with delight. He immediately started to crack them open.

"Can I cook them?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"No, we can't light the fire, or _they _might see. But they're edible uncooked."

Naruto swallowed. "Er...and...who are..._they_?"

"It's abundant in these areas, these clams." Raiku sighed. "I'd forgotten. There's a gang called the Yoshiako who go wherever they have to to find these things. It was lucky they didn't find you."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked, suddenly petrified.

"They're the most violent of any gang currently known," Raiku said mysteriously. "If you're caught by them, they _might _let you go after a serious beat-down, if a ransom is paid. But if they found you stealing their clams?"

He didn't have to finish.


	6. Merchant

They couldn't finish the clams. They were delicious, but enormously filling. Still, they couldn't just throw them away. Naruto thought that they wouldn't go bad by the time they needed to eat them again, and Raiku agreed.

In the morning, after a frightful night filled with nightmares of Yoshiako gang members, they started off again.

Naruto was in high spirits. He kept imagining the look on Sasuke's face when he finally rescued him.

_"Wow, you're so strong," Sasuke would gasp. "I never knew. Naruto, my hero! You saved me because I couldn't save myself because I'm so weak!"_

_"Don't worry, Sasuke," Naruto would say, "I'll save you, loser."_

_Then he would gallantly slay the kidnappers and Sasuke and he would return to Konoha, and Sasuke would vow to be his servant forever to repay his debt._

Naruto hummed to himself happily.

Raiku watched this with disgust. What a carefree kid. Probably hadn't felt an ounce of unhappiness in his life. His fists clenched angrily and he trudged on ragefully, telling himself that punching the loser was low, even for him.

They came upon a small stand. It seemed to be owned by a merchant. Interested, Naruto asked to look at what he had.

"I don't have much money," Raiku complained. "And I'll need whatever I have when we get to Ukigakure."

"We won't buy anything," Naruto assured. "We'll just look!"

Resignedly, Raiku followed Naruto up to the small stand, which was on the side of a paved road they'd come across on their way. Naruto continued to hum as he looked at all it had to offer.

Necklaces and bracelets, charms, superstitious objects like a horse shoe and rabbit's foot. It was all here.

But the merchant didn't seem to be. Naruto couldn't find him.

"What's it matter, anyway?" Raiku complained. "We're not buying anything."

"But he might get angry at us for looking," Naruto said.

"What are you talking about?" Raiku cried. "This stand was here in the open! We were meant to look at it!"

"Don't be so angry," Naruto muttered, looking back. "Hey," he said happily. "It says here we can pay for things with those special clams."

"You can read?"

"Yeah, I'm not dumb."

"Well, so what if it says that?"

"We can use those clams we got at the river."

Suddenly, almost a dozen black-clothed figures fell from the trees and gracefully landed in a circle around the pair.

They both realized they'd fallen into a trap set up by the Yoshiako.

"Oh, they're good," Naruto admitted.

"No, we're just stupid."

The leader, a big man, came forward, and through a dark cloth covering his mouth, said, "If you boys have clams, you better hand them over now."

Instantly, they dropped the few clams they had left, which were cracked and beaten-looking. They were also smelly.

"They're rotten," said the man angrily. He grabbed the front of Raiku's shirt and roughly shook him. "Did you eat my clams?"

"N-n-no," Raiku lied, scared. "W-we found them."

"Oh, really?" the man chuckled darkly. "Open your mouth."

Raiku unwillingly did so and the man sniffed. Naruto wrinkled his nose.

"I smell clams!" he hollered, and the members around him hooted excitedly.

"Do you know what we do to people like you?" the man asked, looking into Raiku's fearful eyes.

Raiku frowned and looked on the verge of crying when an astounded look came to his face.

"Totari?" he mumbled, amazed. "_Totari_?"

The man dropped him and stumbled backwards. "H-how do you know my name?" he asked angrily.

Raiku smiled. "It's me, Raiku!"

The man named Totari stiffened and squinted at him, to assure himself he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.

"Little brother?"


	7. Totari

"Wha...what?" Naruto gaped, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"This is my brother!" Raiku said, pointing to the man who had recently tried to beat the pulp out of him.

"Brother?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Everyone, go!" said the man, waving his hand at his henchmen to scatter.

"But, Boss!" objected one of them.

"Go!"

They left, and the three were left alone in the middle of the forest.

The Totari man shed his mask, and amazingly, he _did _look like Raiku.

"I thought you'd been killed!" cried he, smiling broadly, hugging Raiku awkwardly.

"I went to Aunt Yoshina!"

"Yeah? How is she?"

Naruto felt like his head would explode.

Raiku shuffled his feet, unable to meet Totari's gaze. "She...died."

Totari's smile weakened but didn't fade. He put a hand on Raiku's shoulder. "But you're here now! You can stay with me!"

"Wow! Really?" Raiku gasped in excitement. Then he looked down. "But...I was hoping...I could go...home..."

Totari spit, looking away in disgust. "I did. I did go back, Raiku. And it's all gone. Burned to the ground."

Raiku started to tremble.

"What's going on?" Naruto whined, frowning with frustration and confusion.

"Did you ever...find out who did it?" Raiku asked with feeling.

"No. No trace of them." He looked away. "But hey! Brother! You're alive! And you look mighty strong, as well!"

Raiku brightened. "Huh? Yeah? You think so?"

Totari laughed. He was a big man, perhaps mid-twenties, but he didn't seem exceptionally brutal. Perhaps it was only his job as Yoshiako gang leader that made him seem that way.

"Who's this little squirt, anyway?" asked Totari, scruffing up Naruto's hair, much to his dismay.

"Oh! I forgot. This is Naruto." He seemed about to say something more, but sighed. "It's a long story."

Totari shrugged. "You can tell me some other time." he smiled. "So, you gonna come stay with me, or what?"

Raiku was about to agree when he saw Naruto's face. He would let Naruto down. And he'd said he would bring him to Ukigakure, and he would. It was his word, as a man. Besides, he had a bone to pick with those scoundrels they were after...

"Actually, I was gonna go to Ukigakure," Raiku said.

"Really?" Totari said, stretching and looking to the sky to check the time. "It's not that far away. I could take you there. Show you around, if you want."

Raiku knew every inch of Ukigakure as if it were the back of his hand. But this was his brother, and he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

"Sure!" he agreed.


	8. Ukigakure

Ukigakure, just smaller than Konohagakure, sat in a valley surrounded by high mountain peaks. Hundreds of years ago, to reach this once isolated city, one had to climb the peaks of tall mountains to chance upon the hidden citadel. Eventually, dynamite was detonated and roads were built into the now prosperous village. Why did anyone bother to hike all the way there, decades and centuries ago? Ukigakure was known for its gold mines, rich oil reserves (which were, at the time, solely used for heating buildings) and pretty women. Now it's known for its low oil reserves, empty gold mines, and...er..."cheap women".

Still, it was a populated city that wasn't currently having any money related issues, and was actually a great place to raise a family. Naruto found it profoundly similar to Konoha, save for the giant Hokage heads and people hating his guts for no specified reason he could fathom.

Of course, he couldn't voice this to Raiku, who couldn't stop chattering away with his brother. Naruto couldn't blame him, of course. If he'd found some long-lost sibling of his, he would go crazy with delight and go as far as tie them to a chair surrounded by large, pointy objects in order to keep him or her with him forever.

With fear of the Yoshiako vanished, they could enjoy themselves--_after _they found Sasuke, Naruto firmly stated.

"No can do," Raiku said, shrugging his shoulders. They were seated at a small cafe, in which they sat outside, each drinking an Uki-Cola.

"Huh?" Naruto asked in confusion. "But--you said--I dont understand..."

"I said I'd bring you to Sasuke," Raiku pointed out, "But not his exact location! I'm not sure where they're going, _exactly._"

"But you _promised_!" Naruto objected.

"Yeah, yeah, kid," Raiku nodded. "We will, we will. Later. I've got a bone to pick with them, remember? And your kiddie friend isn't in any danger. Right now, anyway." He laughed. "We'll find him sooner or later."

"What's going on?" Totari asked, completely uninformed about the whole thing.

"I was being looked after by this guy, Toki," Raiku explained, "who had a few favors to make up with Aunt Yoshina. But then, he stole this kid with this bloodline trait, right, he's an Uchiha."

Totari gasped at the name, obviously recognizing it. Naruto didn't get its significance.

"Anyway, he just so happens to be Naruto's little friend. So, I promised to find him with him, so long as I get to bust Toki up for abandoning me."

"He abandoned you?" Totari fumed. "No way! I'll bust his chops, pronto!"

"Right," Raiku agreed happily. "But I don't know _exactly _where they are, only that they're here. So, we can wait a few days, right? To go searching? So we can, like, hang out?"

Totari stared at him as if he were crazy. "But they could do horrible things to him in the meantime! And, the kid has this bloodline trait--Uchiha, right?" Raiku nodded. "They could take his eyes out!"

Raiku shook his head. "Nah, nah! He doesn't have full Sharingan yet, 'cuz he's only a 'lil punk. They can't take his eyes if he doesn't have the full ones yet!"

Totari kept shaking his head. "No, no, no," he thundered, surprising the people around him. "They'll take his eyes anyway!"

"Why?" Raiku questioned. "What's the point in the buggers if they don't have Sharingan?"

"They'll transplant them, and awaken it themselves," Totari hooted. "That's what they'll do!"

"How?" Raiku asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Yeah, yeah," Totari said. "Let me tell you something. I knew this guy, right? Name was Doton. He was a real powerful guy, right, Chunin and all of the Village Hidden in the Rocks. He met this ninja--Kakashi. Kakashi of the Sharingan, man."

"Who's that?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Some normal guy with Sharingan, only he wasn't an Uchiha," Totari explained. "But in a fight with Doton--who lost, because this Kakashi guy was really something--the Sharingan eye he had was fully activated. He had the Sharingan at two dots instead of the full three, and in that fight, he got the third."

"And?" Raiku asked, not getting it.

"_And,_ the point is, even if you transplant the eyes, you can still awaken it!"

Naruto and Raiku were both shocked, stunned into silence.

"B-b-but," Raiku stuttered, "I didn't hear any of that in their plans!"

"Well, riddle me this," Totari asked. "You really think that this guy, Toki or whatever, would really waste time and energy on some stupid Uchiha brat for the years it would take to fully awaken that Sharingan? I mean, come on, people were _bound _to come after him..."

A silence followed, which felt as if it would choke them.

Sasuke was in danger. Far more danger than anyone had actually previously imagined, actually.

This was bad.

--

It had been days. No, more than that? Sasuke couldn't be sure. He hadn't seen a ray of sunlight or any possible way of measuring time for as long as he'd been stuffed in this hideously paralyzing and claustrophobic black bag. How demeaning. And for an Uchiha!

He'd been given only water, and _no _food, save for a few scraps of bread that was occasionally stuffed in there. He was _starving. _

Strange thing, though, he wasn't scared. Though he'd been captured, he still believed he was a mighty fellow and, when push came to shove, could possibly defeat all of his kidnappers without breaking a sweat.

Suddenly, the rickety carriage he was being transported in--which was terribly annoying to have to be forced to listen to, hour after agonizing hour--finally and abruptly stopped. A split second later, Sasuke was being roughly thrust from the vehicle and onto hard, rocky ground, causing him to flinch from the impossible pain. After a kick in the side, he was hauled up an incline on the shoulders of a very strong, tall man, whose sharp shoulder bone dug into his chest.

Finally, he was dumped to the ground, and the rope came undone around the head of the bag. Quickly, Sasuke wrenched his head free to get a look at his surroundings, before his captors harshly rammed his head inside the hell-hole once again.

Above him, on a large, faded sign, in slanted, unappealing letters, read the following:

_Village of Hozugakure._


	9. New Direction

In the garbage? No. In the store? No. In the bathrooms? No. In the sewers? No.

_Maybe he's in my shoe? _Naruto wondered, shaking off his ninja sandals.

After checking nearly every possible place for an answer to this mystifying equation, Naruto, Raiku and Totari had not found their elusive kinda-comrade.

Naruto's dream of enslaving his rival now seemed farther than ever. Not only that, but Sasuke would be eyeless and unable to view Naruto's amazing beauty and stunning abilities if he went too long uncaptured. That would not be a fun outcome to this kidnapping.

Raiku soon became annoyed. Why had he even started this impossible quest? Revenge was not the best road to take in life, but he'd forged down it in order to destroy Toki and those insolent b*tches he traveled with. Now he was stuck.

Totari was the only one who wasn't panicking. He believed in his muscle and average standard of intelligence, and enjoyed this time with his brother--though it wasn't really a quality thing, he knew.

Raiku became enraged and started to kick a wall, regardless of how it stubbed his toes rather painfully.

"Settle down, bro," Totari said soothingly, trying to stop his brother's self-mutilation.

"I don't care anymore!" he howled angrily, turning to Naruto. "You can find this kid on your own! I just want to go home with bro!"

"We don't have a home," Totari pointed out quickly, and continued, "Besides, it wouldn't matter if we did. We have to help Naruto. And the Uchiha! Do you know how many Uchiha are _left _in this world?"

Raiku shook his head feircely.

"Three. Er, two? Three." Totari thought hard.

Far, far away, at that very moment, a rather tall man slumped against a wall, wrapped in dark clothing and wearing a red spiral mask, sneezed.

"Someone must be talking about me," he murmured, wiping his nose.

Back at Ukigakure, Raiku was calmer and apologized to Naruto.

"Sorry, man," Raiku said. "I'm just...eh, it doesn't matter."

Naruto nodded without a word.

Totari rubbed his hands together. "Raiku," he said, "Are you sure that they mentioned that they were bringing this kid here? Are you sure it was _Uki_gakure?"

"Of course," Raiku said confidently, nodding his head roughly. "Well, pretty sure."

"_Pretty _sure?" Totari asked skeptically.

"Ok," Raiku snorted, "There are a lot of Gakures out there. So I can't remember if it was this one. So sue me! It's most likely here, anyway..."

He trailed off when noticing Naruto's intense stare and Totari's disbelief.

"Ok, ok," Raiku shrugged. "He only mentioned it a few times, and you know, Toki slurs his words a lot...but he might have said Fukigakure...Hozugakure...Wogakure?"

"They don't even sound alike!" Totari said disbelievingly.

"Believe me," Raiku assured, "when it comes to Toki, they _all _sound the same."

"Ok, that makes no sense," Uzumaki disagreed. "But, whatever! It doesn't matter! Which one is most likely?"

"Hozugakure," Raiku said. "Most likely. It's a run-down place no one ever goes to, unless you want to meet some women..." he trailed off suggestively. "Anyway, it would be easy to hide even an _Uchiha _in that dump."

"Then why did you think it was Ukigakure in the first place?" Totari asked, leaning against a wall.

"Because it's a fun place to be?" Raiku shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

Totari just stared. Then, in a menacing tone, he said, "You know, if you were one of my men, I'd slaughter you." Then he added, rather cheerfully, "It's a good thing you're my brother!"

Raiku tried to slow his beating heart. "Well, if I hadn't come here," he reminded, "I wouldn't have seen you again."

Totari nodded appreciatively.

"To Hozugakure, then," Naruto mumbled without enthusiasm.

"Hey!" Totari laughed. "Cheer up! Maybe we'll find some clam gangs to steal from!"

Raiku and Naruto groaned as Totari, quite happily, led the way to Hozu.

--

_Sorry it took so long. I don't write as much as I used to...too lazy. But I'll continue writing this story, if at odd intervals. And if you're reading this and I've already finished the series...then good for you!_

_Ha. Ok, bye._


	10. A Rough Night

_Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry...sorry...sorry._

_So sorry!_

_I kept putting off writing the next chapter. I apologize greatly. I've decided to try to write a new chapter for every one of my stories at least once a week, maybe once every two weeks. So, I suppose you can expect them to come at less of a long interval._

_Sorry!_

--

The way to the relatively unknown land of Hozugakure wasn't very perilous.

Until night fell.

Naruto huddled against a course tree stump, shivering. The night was cold and unforgiving, the half-moon casting long shadows upon the unfamiliar land.

_The hell have I gotten myself into? _Naruto wondered.

Totari and Raiku, however, were quite happily huddled, sleeping, beneath a blanket they'd brought along with them, which they'd bought with Totari's endless supply of cash back in Ukigakure.

Naruto was jealous. Not only were they warm and sleeping unaware, but they had each other. They didn't care much for him at all. They probably were only coming because they'd promised earlier to help him. If anything more, they were probably all wrapped up in being heroes and saving the last Uchiha of Konohagakure.

Naruto regretted this as soon as he thought of it. They weren't like that. One could assume they didn't really feel much toward him at all, but they weren't self-centered as to want to be recognized for that feat. They were just sticking to their word.

Naruto leaned his head against the stump, wishing for a better bed. But there could be no such luck. The ground was muddy and yielding, due to some drizzling that had happened while they were in Ukigakure, and the only reason Totari and Raiku (whom Naruto decided he'd call the Brothers, because he was too lazy to state both of their names) could sleep well was because they were atop a rather flat rock. Uncomfortable, but cleaner and better than the ground.

Naruto had found the stump earlier, but it wasn't big enough to hold him. He had to sleep on the half-stable grassy forest floor surrounding it.

Naruto had always felt that his life alone in Konohagakure was hell, but now he knew something worse. Not only was he alone, but he had to sleep on dirt, with his only company being two very close brothers.

Not exactly what you'd call a peaceful night, as you can see.

But he finally started to nod off. His eyelids drooped, his hands became limp, and darkness started to creep into his vision...

A pain erupted randomly from his lower abdomen.

"Goddamn it!" Naruto yelled silently, not wanting to wake the Brothers. He grabbed at his crotch and stood, cursing the heavens for inventing the need to pee.

He walked off from the campsite, hoping to find a river or some sort of ditch to relieve himself in. He didn't really feel like falling asleep to the musty smell of urine. And he didn't want to embarrass himself the next day when the Brothers asked what the smell was.

But now Naruto wished he'd been more of a man back there and just went, because he was starting to become lost. He'd walked maybe three minutes, but already he was becoming lost. He tripped over upturned roots and banged his head against prickly branches, and the sound of owls in the distance terrified him, because his surroundings were becoming pitch-dark due to the trees blocking out the moon.

Finally, he came to a clearing. Naruto, exhausted from fighting off the endless arms of wood clutching at his clothes, collapsed to the ground to catch his breath, and shake off the fear.

Once his heart had slowed, he relieved himself against a tree, feeling almost proud of himself for having made it there.

He was pulling up his pants when the sound came.

It was the sort of noise you'd only hear in dreams gone wrong--beneath the bed of an imaginative boy's room, or in the depths of the coral reef a silly diver had lost himself within. A gutteral sound that couldn't be mistaken.

A predator's howl.

Naruto swung himself around, toward the field, only to become face to face with a monstrous creature.

A black-and-white wolf pup, looking up at him with big blue eyes.

Again, Naruto had to slow his breathing. Had that puppy been the source of that horrible noise?

Naruto crouched, smiling, holding his hand out to the small creature. The canine smelled it, but didn't come closer to the Uzumaki.

Naruto tried to coax it to come nearer, but it wouldn't budge.

It took him a moment to finally realize that the puppy wasn't alone.

It was something he should have suspected--I mean, it wasn't like a good parental wolf would have let the little thing run off on its own. The father and/or mother was bound to come looking for the lost kid.

Or, you know, the whole pack...

At least five of the adult wolves were in the clearing by now, inching forward with bloodlust in their eyes.

Naruto became extremely glad he'd already peed, because his pants would have been soaked by now.

--

_By the way, a wolf pup's eyes are blue until adolescence. Just a fun fact there. ^^_


	11. Flee

_Aha...ha...yeah. It's been a month. I'm sooo sorry. I broke my promise..._

_Sorry. I'm trying! But you can't trust me._

_Sorry in advance if the chapter's bad or too short._

_--_

Naruto had had many fights with many people. Some younger, some older...it seemed no one could resist hating him. Maybe that was because he hated them back.

But he knew something for certain.

They started it.

In any case, he'd learned how to fight in his short life. He wasn't the best, and he was no strategist. All his power was simply brute force.

Naruto didn't know what to do. He'd never learned about wolves. They ran in packs, he knew--a lot of animals did that. Take the bullies at the Academy. He could guess a lot of other things too--they could bite pretty hard; their claws could cut pretty deep...

Damn his bladder.

This wasn't a regular fight. It wasn't a bully that would get off on pounding him, then leave when he was satisfied. These were wolves. They fought...to kill.

Naruto did the first thing that came to mind.

He screamed.

"Raikuuuuuuuu!!!" He called to the forest.

His plea for help echoed through the unyielding forest, seeming to Naruto to be almost deafening.

Then, it was gone.

A dull ringing pounded in Naruto's head, but that was all that was left.

Had he even shouted? He couldn't remember.

He started to tremble. Only a little. It started with his hand, then spread up his arms and eventually shook his whole body.

And then, it stopped.

All of this happened in about ten seconds.

The wolves looked on without any expression. They had been angry before, and now they were just curious.

The puppy, unaware that anything odd had happened, bounded back to its family, rubbing the legs of a stout female.

The leader moved. He was a sleek male, white from snout to tail tip, the only black on his body the deepness of his eyes and his powerful legs, onyx sneaking up their lengths as a shadow clings to dawn.

He cautiously came forward through the ranks. Naruto just stared, unwilling to do anything positive or negetive. He was neutral.

The wolf paused right before him, Naruto's head coming up onto the start of his giant chest. His eyes wide, legs sprawled before him as he leaned back in a sitting position, he had the weird feeling that he was confronting a higher force.

Its head lowered.

Naruto waited for it. The snapping on his neck, the ripping of an ear, a cheek...he just prayed that it be quick.

Instead, he felt warmth.

The wolf's breath. It was sniffing him.

It was smelling his head, its nose starting at the crown and making its way down the length of his face and down to his collar bone.

All was well until it came to the stomach.

With a wrinkle of the nose, the wolf growled a coughed a bark, spraying spit onto Naruto's face. Naruto shielded his face with his hands, readying for what he knew was the come.

The pain was unbearable.

The wolf chomped onto his forearm with a passion, shredding the skin horribly. Naruto, with an unnatural speed, scrambled backward from the blow, forcing himself to stand with the wolf still holding fast.

It suddenly let go, coughing and spitting as if it had tasted something foul.

Naruto didn't give it a chance to attack again.

He turned and dashed, pumping his legs in an urgent way he had never before mustered. Without a look back, he blindly staggered through the forest, clutching his arm and stopping for nothing.

A good twenty minutes had passed before he realized he wasn't being followed. Breath coming out in irregular intervals, chest feeling as if it would explode of the pressure, throat feeling scorchingly cold, Naruto fell to his knees before a small stream.

He looked down at his arm but looked away again instantly. It wasn't something that was pleasant to look at. He promptly dumped his arm in the water, wincing at the pain but forcing himself not to cry.

He was so tired, and hungry. He felt his eyelids become heavy. He'd never really thought it possible to fall asleep while fully awake, but now, after that horrific circumstance, he felt himself nodding off.

He fell into the stream, face-first. Being a small flow, when his head reached the bottom, his waist and legs were still limply on the ground.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and all went black.

--

_"...as a shadow clings to dawn." Where the hell did that come from?_


	12. Fight

He came up, spluttering and panicking. Where was he? How...?

He saw above him a shadowy figure, whose hands were grasping him by his arms and pulling him roughly.

He let out a startled cry, struggling to get free. Who was this?

"Hey, come on, calm down!"

The hands dropped from his arms, causing him to fall to the hard ground with a jolt of pain. Naruto coughed hard, rocking his body badly. Water streamed from his hair and into his eyes, causing them to blur.

He looked up to see a blur of a man staring at him.

Totari?

"What the--!" Naruto gasped, blinking.

A fist came down on his head softly. "Geez, you idiot," Raiku said with disdain. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to kill himself, I bet," Totari said.

"Why? 'Cuz he hasn't found this Sasuke yet?"

"Guess so."

Naruto shook his head in disgust. "Of course not! I was just...just...looking for some food!"

"This late at night? We heard your scream."

Naruto gritted his teeth and hung his head.

"It's alright, kid," Totari assured him, crouching beside him and ruffling his slowly drying hair. "You're ok now."

Naruto let out a yelp and pushed himself away from Totari, head still feeling almost burnt. He'd never been touched like that before.

He pushed himself just a little too far, though, because he stumbled right back into the river, only this time, his feet touched the bottom and he was safe.

His hands reached for the shore, touching the rocks jutting from it.

Raiku extended his hand. "Come on, let's go back to the campsite," he said with a sigh.

Naruto's eyes peirced Raiku, sending a wave of shock through him. Such anger and near..._hatred _burned within them. Was that...jealousy, perhaps?

Jealous of _him? _Why?

Naruto shook his head and climbed out alone, struggling to his feet but refusing help. He rubbed his arms hard for warmth, but nothing seemed to be working. He felt frozen, as if each step he tried to take as they started walking back to the camp was a mile.

Totari looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Determination, he saw. A life of hardship.

A grudge against something far too large for him to try to understand.

Why was this turning out so strangely? He didn't want to know. He just knew they needed to find this boy quickly, before something bad happened.

"I'd planned to leave early this morning," Totari said, partly to himself as they entered the camp, "But Naruto must be exhausted and cold from his little adventure. We'll stay a few more hours so he can warm up and sleep."

As the sun started to rise, Naruto made his way to the uncomfortable tree stump, patting it with one hand, dead eyes scanning it. He was so tired, so cold, so ready to just drop dead. Why had those wolves acted the way they had? Why did everything hate him?

Raiku came up to him, stopping a few feet away, staring at his back as it was sprayed with the rising sun's rays.

Naruto fell then, right on the stump, stomach scraping against the sharp points of the wood.

Raiku gasped, taking an involuntary step backward, not knowing what to do. Was he ok? He shuddered, thinking of what that must feel like.

Naruto didn't move, couldn't move. He'd done this on purpose. The razors of pain--throbbing, but dulling--were just what he needed to bring life to his body.

The pain was an unfortunate side effect, but at least he wasn't going to die of hypothermia.

Raiku scowled, and Naruto lifted his head weakly to look at him. "What do you want?"

"Why were you in the river?"

"Needed to pee. Went to meadow. Crazy wolves. Fell."

Raiku raised an eyebrow, but Naruto didn't elaborate.

"We probably won't be able to get to your friend for a while now, did you know that?"

Naruto just stared at him.

"They could be ready to extract those eyes right now, you know that?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose in anger. "I'm sure you know all the gruesome details, considering you're one of the ones who _stole him in the first place!_"

Raiku's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I didn't want to do it!"

"Easy to say that now!"

Raiku sneered at Naruto. "Well, when we find his bloody dead body in a Dumpster somewhere, don't blame me!"

"Why not? You helped steal him!"

"And I'm helping to rescue him! It's you who's not ready to go now, when _we're_ all ready!"

They stared into each other's eyes heatedly, each with his own fiery passion. Raiku was the first to look away, averting his eyes in rage and stomping toward Totari, who was looking through the packs for something to eat.

Naruto just watched him trudge away, never even stopping to blink.


End file.
